President Obama and Congress will soon make defining choices about health care and troops for Afghanistan.

These two choices have something in common — each has a bill of around $100 billion per year. So one question is whether we’re better off spending that money blowing up things in Helmand Province or building up things in America.

The total bill in Afghanistan has been running around $1 million per year per soldier … Read more »

In Egypt, 43 percent of people think Israel was behind the 9/11 attacks in America, a poll by WorldPublicOpinion.org found last year.

In the United States, six percent of Americans say the moon landing of 40 years ago was staged, according to Gallup.

And in Alaska, the former governor, a woman who was nearly a heartbeat away from the presidency, now tells followers that “Obama death panels” could decide if her parents and her baby, Trig, who … Read more »

While the Baker-Hamilton report from the Iraq Study Group dominates the news in recent weeks with its rebuke of the colossal mess the United States has made in Iraq, there is another report released at the end of October — even more vital in its import — that has gone virtually unnoticed

Newly released documents show Bush’s top political aide focused on GOP calls to oust New Mexico’s top U.S. prosecutor. Other Bush aides lobbied the Justice Dept. on other issues, the documents show.

Reporting from Washington — Karl Rove and other officials in George W. Bush’s White House played an active role in the firing of the top federal prosecutor in New Mexico, according to documents released Tuesday that also show Bush political aides … Read more »

“AUGUST is a challenging time to be president,” said Andrew Card, the former Bush White House chief of staff, as he offered unsolicited advice to his successors in a television interview last week. “I think you have to expect the unexpected.”

He should know. Thursday was the eighth anniversary of “Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.,” the President’s Daily Brief that his boss ignored while on vacation in Crawford. Aug. 29 marks the fourth anniversary of … Read more »

So it seems that we aren’t going to have a second Great Depression after all. What saved us? The answer, basically, is Big Government.

Just to be clear: the economic situation remains terrible, indeed worse than almost anyone thought possible not long ago. The nation has lost 6.7 million jobs since the recession began. Once you take into account the need to find employment for a growing working-age population, we’re probably around nine million jobs short of … Read more »

This weekend, citizens from around the world will tune into one of the biggest concert events in history. Live Earth, organized under the leadership of former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, will hold concerts in seven cities around the globe, broadcast through multiple outlets that organizers estimate will reach an audience of two billion people.

Among the many issues voters need to consider in this campaign is this vital fact: The next president is likely to appoint several Supreme Court justices. Those choices will determine the future of the law, and of some of Americans’ most cherished rights.

Want a tiny sneak preview of Barbra’s Back To Brooklyn concert special? Watch this highlights clip, and don’t forget you can pre-order your copy before the official November 25th release at http://smarturl.it/backtobrooklyn

On the Monday evening before Kol Nidre, the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Museum of Tolerance invited two dozen Hollywood VIPs to preview their new Anne Frank exhibit prior to its October public opening. The guest list, created by Dreamworks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg and vice chairman of NBCUniversal Ron Meyer, included both Barbra Streisand and Tom Cruise. Cruise was the first to arrive, solo, dressed elegantly in a suit and red tie. During cocktail hour, he … Read more »

Have you ever seen a real, live legend? I have. This Saturday, I went to see Barbra Streisand live in concert. Earlier in the week, she landed in Israel to participate in President Shimon Peres’s birthday celebration. But unlike many of the other famous guests, Streisand spent the week in the Holy Land, toured the country and gave us a once in a lifetime opportunity to see her performing live.

I was very saddened to hear of Allison Waldman’s passing Monday. She had been struggling bravely for many years to beat cancer.

I knew Allison over the years as a very good writer and a kind and loyal fan of mine who created and wrote “The Barbra Files” magazine and “The Barbra Streisand Scrapbook”… she was always wonderful to me. She was dedicated to the accuracy of the news she conveyed, and she shaped her stories with great style.

Following her dazzling North American tour of 2012, BARBRA STREISAND LIVE! will visit Europe this summer for five exclusive engagements with additional dates and venues to be announced soon.

Appearing for the first time ever in Israel, Cologne, Amsterdam and returning to London for the first time in over six years, Barbra Streisand Live promises to be a magical evening of timeless hits, combining her elegant voice, with self-deprecating humor and charming banter. An additional date has also just been … Read more »